Ben 10: Switched Witch
by Light Seeker 001
Summary: What if in the episode, Change of Face, Gwen in Charmcaster's body escaped with the two delinquents? What if Charmcaster in Gwen's body didn't complete the Transfera Identica potion in time and had to bide her time and wait for the right moment to steal Ben's body and his Omnitrix? Copyright: Cartoon Network and Man Of Action
1. Chapter 1

Recap: Gwen and Charmcaster switched bodies by accident; the latter wanted to switch bodies with Ben so she can have the Omnitrix. Gwen in Charmcaster's body winds up in prison and meets two tough female inmates: Pinky (a redhead in a bandana) and Missy (a brunette in a skull T-shirt). She plans to escape, but she is threatened by the two inmates to take her with them.

(!)

The three girls sprinted through the sewers, guards were closing in on them. After running, they came across a grated gate with no way to open it.

"Check it out," Pinky said. "This must spill out into the city's main drainage system. If we can get past it, we're home free!"

There was a loud splashing sound. The three girls turned to see a bag with a voodoo doll's face hopping down the path and straight into Gwen's arms. "Stand back," she called out. She opened the zipper and took out more balls of purple and brown stone. She gave them a toss and exploded the grate. "This is our way out," Gwen said.

"Finally," Missy said. "We couldn't have done this without ya, Princess."

"Yeah," Pinky said with a chuckle. She playfully gave Gwen a light punch to the shoulder. "You're all right."

The three girls saw flashlights in the direction where they came from and took off running again.

(!)

A few minutes later, the girls popped open a manhole cover. Gwen was the last to get out. Quickly, she rushed to a dumpster and gave it a push, but it was too heavy. Suddenly, she felt it shift a little. Pinky and Missy were helping her out! The three girls gave a heave and pushed until the manhole cover was blocked by the dumpster's wheels. They ran off until they found a place to stop: a bench by the alley. All three girls panted deeply, catching their breaths. Finally, they stopped for a while, and Pinky chuckled. "That was the most exciting time I ever had."

Missy heaved before chuckling as well. "Yeah," she said. "Who would have thought our golden ticket," she gave Gwen a nudge. "Was a little magic."

Pinky made a fist and motioned toward Gwen who flinched at first before realizing she was making a friendly gesture. She returned in kind and bumped her fist with her own. "Boosh," Pinky said. Gwen did the same gesture with Missy.

Finally Gwen stood up. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways."

Both Missy and Pinky looked up. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah," Missy said. "We just got out."

"I have to get back to my family," Gwen said. "I have to save them before it's too late."

Both convicts looked at each other, then nodded. "If that's the case, then take us with you."

Gwen looked back. "Huh?"

"It's nothing," Missy said. "But we feel we have a sort of debt to pay."

"Yeah," Pinky said. "Scratch each other's backs, you know?"

Gwen shook her head and said politely, "That's very kind, but I can handle myself." She turned to leave, only to feel a hand grip her arm tight, making her yelp, only to have another hand muffle her. She was forced to her knees and looked up to see Pinky holding her down. "We could have just left you back in that prison, you know. Could have left you all alone with other freaks to do who knows what? And this is the thanks we get for helping you bust out?"

"Maybe you need a little..." Missy said dangerously as she picked up a broken bottle and pointed the jagged end at Gwen's face. "Reminder of loyalty."

"No! Wait! Stop!"

"You want us to stop?" Missy pressed the bottle a little harder. "Then tell us why you're ditching us."

"I...I can't explain! It's a family business!"

"Peh," Pinky scoffed. "Family, huh? Where was your family when you were dumped in that prison? Oh, wait! That's right! Your family turned you in!"

"They didn't! I was framed!"

"Yeah, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I would pay for my own bail."

"Please," Gwen pleaded. "I'm just a little girl!"

"So am I," Missy laughed.

"But I am! I can prove it!"

"What do you mean?" Pinky said.

Gwen sighed. She didn't have much of a choice. Either she let these two delinquents in on what's going on or she'll...she didn't want to finish the thought. Who knows what these two could do? "My bag," she gestured to the satchel shaped like a voodoo doll's head. "There's a book. The page is bookmarked."

"What if it's a trick," Missy warned.

"Princess's got a broken bottle pointed to hear neck," Pinky said as she rummaged through the bag. "What can she do?"

"You saw what she did at the sewer," Missy warned. "'What can she do?' How about turn us into frogs?"

Pinky didn't answer. Instead she did what she was told and reached into the bag and pulled out the book. "Wicked. You said it's bookmarked?"

"Yeah," Gwen said. She couldn't believe she was siding with criminals! These girls reminded her of Ben's enemy, Kevin Levin. Thank goodness they didn't have his powers.

"'Transfera identica?' What's that?" demanded Pinky.

"It's a body switch spell," Gwen explained, praying this won't end up biting her in the butt. "A witch named Charmcaster intended to use the spell on my cousin, but I got caught in the crossfire. Then I got arrested in her place and, well, I met you two."

Pinky and Missy weren't buying it. The former asked, "How do I know YOU aren't a witch?"

"Would I have left you behind? Like Missy here said, I could have just turned you into frogs and leave the prison on my own."

Missy scoffed, "You don't actually believe this witch, do you, Pinky?"

The redhead looked at the book. "I don't know what to believe, but I just saw a gray-haired woman blow up prison sewer grate and let us out. Gotta believe something." She smiled. Not a friendly one either. "Alright, Princess, I say you deserve freedom."

"So...you'll help?"

"Of course. Just stick with us, and we'll get along just fine."

"Hold up," Missy protested. "How do you know she won't just turn us in once she gets her body back?"

Pinky dug into her pocket and pulled out a lighter. "I smuggled this in for the pack of cigarettes I was going to get next."

Gwen instantly knew what she was planning. "NO!"

"Then you better do what we say, got it?" Gwen had no other choice. Lowering her head, she conceded. "That's better." Pinky tossed her the book. "Now, where is this witch in your body?"

"She's in my grandpa's RV by the wharf in Salem."

Pinky nodded, then signaled Missy to lower the broken bottle. "Okay. First, we're going to need a set of wheels."

(!)

The three girls hid behind a corner, waiting for the light to turn red. "Why are we doing this," asked Gwen. "I could use a teleportation spell."

"You're not getting away from us," Missy warned. "Besides, you never even learned it."

"Exactly," Pinky said. "Now shut up." She spied a car with an open window stopping at a red light. "Let's go." She sprinted to the car, tore open the passenger side door and flung the passenger out. "Get out of the car, now!" she shouted at the driver. Before the driver could get away, Missy opened the door, punched him in the face and flung him out. "Let's go, Princess!" Gwen sprinted toward the car, hopping in the back.

(!)

Gwen was freaking out. "Oh man, oh man, oh man! I cannot believe I became an accomplice to a crime!"

"Relax, Princess," Pinky said. "We'll get to your RV faster this way."

"You act as though this is your first time doing something bad," Missy said.

"Well, I did," Gwen said. "But not the kind of bad that would get me in federal prison! I just participated in a car jacking!" She started to hyperventilate. "What is my mom going to say when she finds out about this?! Or Grandpa Max?!" Suddenly, the car pulled over and Pinky walked over to her passenger door. She opened it and gave Gwen a slap. "Pull yourself together! If you're going to freak out like this, we'll leave you behind and take that book of yours with us!"

"Maybe we should," Missy said. "I can tell she'll slow us down."

"No she won't," Pinky said with a sneer. "Not if she wants her body back." Seeing that Gwen was still freaking out, the redhead tried a different tactic. "Hey, Princess, think of it this way. It's not you who just did a car jacking."

"Yes it is!"

"But they don't know that." Gwen paused for a moment. "That's right. To them, it's not you committing these crimes, it's the witch." Gwen thought it over. It was true. She could be getting Charmcaster into even more trouble if she were to get her old body back. "But," she said. "I don't like framing people who don't deserve it. Even if they are bad guys."

"What do you care?" asked Pinky. "She stole your body and is intending to do the same thing to your cousin."

"By the way," Missy said. "You didn't tell us why Charmcaster would want your cousin's body. Why would she need her for?"

Pinky saw the hesitation in Gwen's body language and squeezed her throat. "Do you need another reminder on loyalty?"

"Cack! Ugh...Om...ni...trix..."

"What?" Pinky loosened her grip.

"The Omnitrix," Gwen said, coughing a little. "A device that turns him into different aliens."

"Now I know you're lying!"

"I'm telling the truth! He can turn into a crystal alien, an alien dog, a red four armed alien, a fire alien..."

"Hold up," Missy said. "I heard that kind of stuff on the news back at the prison. Your cousin can turn into all those aliens?"

"Yeah," Gwen said. She felt like she was spilling a diary's secrets to strangers, she felt so guilty. "Charmcaster wants to combine her magic with the aliens. She could be unstoppable."

Pinky walked back to the driver's seat and started the ignition again.

"You don't really believe this horse crap, do you?"

"I don't know, Missy. But after everything that's happened, we gotta, right?"

(!)

Back at the RV, Grandpa Max was helping Gwen make a soup in a cauldron, unaware that his "grandniece" was actually Charmcaster in her body. Ben walked out of the RV. One quick sniff of the "soup" was all it took to make him cough. "Ugh! Gag me! Please don't tell me that smell's coming from that 'dinner' you're cooking!"

Suddenly, the radio spoke, "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a news update: three convicts from a local female correctional facility have escaped and have stolen a car. Be on the lookout for three teenage girls around the ages 17 or 18, one is a redhead with a blue bandana, the other is a black haired girl with a skull T-shirt and the third is a grey-haired girl dressed in a purple witch's robes." The reporter paused. "Seriously? Does this chick think it's Halloween?"

Ben perked up. "Female correctional facility?" He turned to Grandpa Max. "Grandpa, you don't think...?"

"Somehow," he said. "I had a feeling Charmcaster would bust out. She is a sorceress after all."

Charmcaster, meanwhile, was seething. No! she thought. The potion's not ready yet! "Uh, maybe we should take this dinner to go," she said.

"Sorry, Gwen," Grandpa Max said. "We can't fit the cauldron in the RV." He sighed in disappointment. "Looks like dinner's cancelled."

"Yes!" "No!" Ben and Charmcaster's exclamations were heard.

"Besides," the former said. "I get to kick some witch butt the moment she arrives."

"Maybe not now," the latter said. "Perhaps we should leave."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought you of all people would have liked to see Charmcaster back in prison."

"Oh, I do," Charmcaster said. "But she has backup and who knows how long she's been stewing in her anger to concentrate on escaping. Her magic could be amplified." Besides, she said mentally. She's got my spell book. I can't risk her using my spells, even if she is a novice.

"How do you know that, Gwen?" asked Ben. "That whole 'magic could be amplified' thing?"

"I read it in a book somewhere," Charmcaster said.

"Of course you would, dweeb. One of your fantasy romance books?"

"Shut it, doofus." Heh, this is probably going to be a very convincing performance.

"Let's just get in the RV," Max said. "If what Gwen said is true, her magic could be unpredictable. She might even be too powerful for you this time, Ben."

"Please," the cocky boy said. "When was the last time I heard that and it proved to be true?"

"Trust Grandpa this time," Charmcaster said. "We should go."

As the Tennyson family stepped into the RV, the witch left behind something on the ground.

(!)

"Yes, here it is!" Gwen rushed to the parking lot by the wharf, but her footsteps stopped and her heart sank when she saw nothing but an empty parking lot. "No...it's too late. She...she got Ben's body!" She let out a yell of anger and smashed her fist into the ground before sobbing. "Oh, Ben..."

"What happened, Princess?" asked Pinky after she and Missy caught up to her.

"They're gone," Gwen choked a sob. "And Charmcaster's in my cousin's body!"

Missy saw a piece of paper on the ground and picked it up. "I don't think she did."

"Huh?"

"Here." Missy handed Gwen the paper. "You got lucky this time," it said. "I had to cancel the potion because of news of your breakout, Tennyson. But I still have enough ingredients for one more. You'll never find me. Charmcaster."

Gwen tore the note into pieces and threw them away. "Darn it all!"

"So, that's it then," Missy said. "Figured it would be a waste of time."

Pinky patted Gwen's back. "I'm sorry, Princess."

Gwen said nothing. Then she opened her eyes and saw something next to her hand. A strand of orange hair. "Is this...?" She picked it up and inspected it. Her eyes widened. "It is!"

"What is it?" asked Missy.

"There has to be one in here!" Gwen said, frantically flipping through the spell book's pages. "Come on, come on! Yes!"

Pinky looked over her shoulder. "A tracking spell?"

"This is the only way. I just hope..." After uttering the right words, the hair strand started to glow purple. Gwen could see what was being seen through Charmcaster's eyes. "They're still in Massachusetts, but they've left Salem! We've gotta stop them!"

"Not like that, you're not, Princess," Pinky said, tugging the purple robes.

"What?"

"Yeah," said Missy. "No offense, but you stick out like a sore thumb. Cops are gonna be looking for you, and they'll immediately arrest you."

"You want to catch up to your family? You need some new clothes."

"How? We've got no money," pointed out Gwen.

"Who said we were going to buy them?"

Gwen suddenly felt like she had made a horrible mistake partnering with these girls.


	2. Chapter 2

Gwen shivered as she sat in the back of the car Pinky and Missy recently jacked. This could not be happening, she thought. Grandpa and Ben are in danger of being in the presence of a witch and she was in danger of being in the presence of two teenage criminals. If only she had left them behind in the prison, but now it was too late. She and her new "friends" had recently stolen the money from a wealthy couple in a park and were on their way to a clothing store for Gwen. Needless to say, they were right; her current attire would be what the police needed to identify her. If they catch her again, she'll never be able to save Ben from Charmcaster switching bodies with him.

But right now, she currently focused on the current situation: buying new clothes with the two teenagers she'd just gotten herself tangled with. Only the store was in a very shifty part of town. "Here we are," Pinky said. "This place can sell clothes fresh from the thrift store. But no lolly gagging, Princess," she warned. "We can't stay here too long or the cops will find us."

Gwen nodded. Taking the money, entered the store. It was kind of run down, but the clothes it sold were not too shabby. But none of them seemed her style. Then she remembered not to stall and get back to the car as soon as she found something that fit. Soon she found something that seemed her style. "Ma'am?" she called out to a clerk. "Do you have something like this with my size?"

"Um," said the desk clerk. "Sure. Let me check."

(!)

Missy groaned in impatience. "Where the heck is she?!"

"She'll be back," Pinky assured her. "Princess knows better than to turn us in now. Not after all we've done for her."

"You're too trusting."

"And you can't see she's too fragile. She won't survive without us."

"'Us?' I just wanted to make up for lost time!"

Pinky smiled at her friend. "You don't see the possibility of having a witch on our side, do you?"

"She said so herself," Missy snapped. "She's just a little girl in a teenager's body. I can see it in her eyes that she's a goody two shoes."

Pinky continued to smile. "Give a bad girl enough rope and she'll soon make a jenny-ass of herself. Have you not seen Pinocchio?"

"Jenny-ass?"

"A female donkey."

"Um," Gwen's voice said. "How do I look?" The two teenage girls took a good look at the sorceress. She was wearing white denim pants, a blue hoodie with a cat's face on the front and a pair of white running shoes.

"Well, it's better than what you originally wore," Pinky said. "Now we just need to do something about your hair. Normal teenagers don't have silver hair like that."

Gwen stroked her hair, agreeing. "We just need to dye it."

"I got you covered." Pinky took out a bottle of orange hair dye. Coincidentally, that was what Gwen needed.

(!)

Eventually, the three girls stopped at a motel. The place was pretty expensive, but a mind control spell from Gwen changed the owner's mind.

Gwen stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Thanks to the hair dye and change of clothes, she looked almost exactly like her twelve-year-old self. She hoped that this would convince Grandpa Max and Ben that the Gwen with them was Charmcaster in her old body.

"Hey," Pinky called out. "It's almost time for bed, Princess! Come on! The TV quality's surprisingly good despite the cheapness of this place."

Gwen sighed. She wasn't looking forward to this. The room had only one bed, which means she had to share it with those two delinquents. But she didn't have much of a choice. She exited the bathroom and found the two girls huddled together watching a movie. Gwen felt red in the face when she realized they were only in their underwear and bra.

"Hey," Pinky said. "You're going to sleep still wearing your clothes?"

"Um...I don't feel comfortable."

"Hey, remember what I said back in juvie? I am in charge. Which means, get naked or else." Gwen shivered, then, red in the face, she peeled off all her clothes, save for her underwear and bra. "Not bad looking, Princess." Pinky scooched closer to Missy to let Gwen sit next to her. Pinky wrapped an arm around Gwen and brought her close to her. "Comfortable?" she asked.

"Not really."

"Too bad. Just shut up and enjoy the movie with us."

Left with no choice, Gwen snuggled up to Pinky. She felt surprisingly warm. She looked at the two girls, and their almost naked forms. "You're not that bad looking yourselves."

The two girls blushed. Missy turned away. "Thanks," she said, blushing.

Pinky ruffled Gwen's hair. "Yeah. What she said."

(!)

Meanwhile, the Rust Bucket stopped at a motel parking lot; the perfect spot they can sleep in the Rust Bucket for the night. Charmcaster was slowly getting to know the Tennysons for a while. Thanks to her magic, she peeked into Ben and Max's minds and memories so that she will learn how to keep up the act until the time came for her to switch bodies with Ben. But right now, she had to make a call. Making sure Ben and Max were asleep, she left the RV and traced strange symbols in the ground around her and spoke in a strange tongue. Soon, an image appeared before her. Hex. "You," he gasped. "How did you learn how to cast the telecommunication spell, Tennyson?!"

"Uncle Hex, it's me, Charmcaster. Now be quiet! The Tennysons are sleeping!"

Hex blinked. "Charmcaster? But...how...never mind. What are you doing, niece?"

"Wasn't my idea," the sorceress scoffed. "I wanted to use Transfera Identica on Ben, but his meddling cousin got in the way. Now I'm stuck with them until the potion is ready."

"You did remember to take back your possessions from your previous body, the one the Tennyson girl is currently inhabiting, did you?" Charmcaster scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "You foolish girl!"

"Shh!"

"Sorry." Hex then repeated, but more quietly. "You foolish girl! The Tennyson girl is going to learn every spell from it! You've just given her a weapon she could use to stop you!"

"Pfft, I'm not worried. Gwen is nothing more than a novice. She'll never learn all the spells in time. And even if she does. It will already be too late, I will have Ben's body and his Omnitrix. That's the name of the alien watch, by the way."

"You better pray this plan won't fail," Hex warned. "Because if you get yourself arrested again, I will not bail you out!"

"I don't need you to bail me out," Charmcaster said. "I can use a little bit of magic to blast me out." Suddenly, she heard a thumping sound. "Someone's coming!" She cancelled the spell and scratched out the runes just in time for Max to come out. "Gwen?" he yawned. "What are you doing out here?"

"Had to get some fresh air," she lied professionally. "My doofus left his smelly socks in the bed again."

"Well, come back inside. You're going to get a cold."

"Okay, Grandpa." Charmcaster made a mental noise of disgust. She couldn't wait to get into Ben's body and stop being a goody two shoes.

(!)

The next morning, the three delinquents hopped back into their stolen car and continued their journey down the road, following the trail Gwen was tracking with her magic. "They've stopped at a hotel not too far from here."

"Okay," Missy said. "After that we can finally ditch this girl."

"There is one problem," Pinky said. She tapped the gas dial. "We're about to hit E and we're short on cash and we've got no food."

"So, what are you going to do," asked Gwen. "Rob a convenience store?" She meant that to be a joke, but the look Pinky told her she wasn't.

"Actually," she said. " _We're_ not going to rob a convenience store. _You_ are."

"I...what?"

"Most crooks and punks use guns and knives to get what they want, and they mostly get caught. _We've_ got a witch."

Gwen blinked and tried to play dumb. "Uh..."

Pinky motioned to Missy who grabbed her shoulder. "Help us get some money and food or you can forget about finding your body!" She held up a razor and inched it to Gwen's cheek.

"Okay, okay!"

"Good," Pinky said. "Now there's a store just up at the next exit. We can take what we can there."

Gwen felt sick. This went all against her moralities and she was being forced by two criminals to help them rob a store! She truly regretted not leaving them behind now.


End file.
